


Bid the Soldiers Shoot

by PeppermintTchaikovsky



Category: Hamlet - Shakespeare
Genre: Death, M/M, Poison, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 20:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5019466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeppermintTchaikovsky/pseuds/PeppermintTchaikovsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Horatio must live to tell Hamlet's story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bid the Soldiers Shoot

All was quiet as Hamlet and Laertes prepared to duel. Horatio stood near the king and queen. For a moment, he made eye contact with Hamlet. He knew there was nothing more he could do, it was only a court duel, after all. No one ever died in these.  
On the order of the king, Hamlet and Laertes began to fight. They were both skilled swordsmen and it was difficult for one to easily gain the upper hand. Hamlet scored the first hit and Horatio relaxed dramatically.   
“Judgement,” cried Laertes as he glared at the king.  
“It was a hit. A very palpable hit,” Osric said. The court murmured slightly, but Hamlet did not seem to mind.  
“Hamlet, this pearl is thine,” the king said as he dropped a single pearl into the goblet of wine and offered it to Hamlet. Hamlet declined and Horatio was glad. It seemed unwise to accept drinks from a known enemy. Horatio basked in the thought that Hamlet was smart enough to avoid the tricks of the king, so therefore they would, indeed go back to their rooms tonight.  
Hamlet and Laertes began to fight the second round. Horatio had all confidence that Hamlet would be the victor. Laertes was more aggressive this time around. He lunged at Hamlet and put him on the defensive. It seemed like only luck that Hamlet was able to land the second hit.  
“A hit, a hit, what say you?” Hamlet cried, raising his arms in the air.  
“A touch, a touch, I do confess,” Laertes growled.  
While the court was applauding, the queen took the goblet in hand and walked over to Hamlet. Having offered him her handkerchief to wipe his brow, she announced, “I drink to thy good fortune, Hamlet.” The king made a move to stop her, but she insisted.  
Horatio’s heart sunk. It was a cup meant for Hamlet that no one else should drink from. He had no proof but a gut feeling that there was something wrong with that wine, but he could not say anything. Now, it was too late. He hoped that his intuitions would be wrong, but then again, they rarely were.  
Hamlet and Laertes were about to begin for a third and final time. Horatio kept his eyes trained on the prince. He was afraid. Laertes lunged like a barbarian before Osric had even given the call. Hamlet was taken but surprise and it took him a few crucial steps to recover. When they were fighting they seemed more like lions than men. Their typical courtly fencing moves turned to savage cuts and slashed, but neither could land a hit.   
Osric called time after a few minutes and Hamlet walked over to Horatio. Horatio gently held Hamlet's sword hand in his own and began to rub small circles where the metal had rubbed his prince’s skin raw. Neither noticed that Laertes was standing, scowling, behind them.  
With one swift motion he cut the back of Hamlet’s neck just deep enough to draw blood. there was nothing Horatio could do to stop Hamlet, now. He grabbed his sword and raced after Laertes. They fought as violently as before and now Hamlet was out for blood. There was a moment when both were disarmed and in a scuffle on the floor, the switched blades. In the confusion, Hamlet acted quickly. He managed to cut the underside of Laertes’ arm.   
In shock, Laertes dropped the sword and ran to the corner of the room to talk with Osric. He held his arms and looked deathly pale.   
“Look at the Queen,” Osric called. The entire court turned.  
“They are bleeding on both sides,” Horatio answered. Hamlet, the prince, their prince, was hurt and they refused to acknowledge it. No one ever gets hurt in these courtly duels. He forgets that the court does not know how hard it is to cut someone with a fencing blade.   
“How is it, Laertes?” Osric asked.  
“I a justly killed by my own treachery,” he said. His voice was soft and cracked. Hamlet could not care less.  
“How is the Queen?” he asked.  
“She swoons to see them bleed,” answered the King.   
The Queen tried to stand but could not. She tried to speak but her voice was caught in her throat.  
“No, no,” she choked, “The drink, oh my dear Hamlet, the drink! I am poisoned,”   
There was a moment of stunned silence before Hamlet yelled, “Oh villany ! Let the doors be locked! Treachery! Seek it out!”  
The court dissolved into mass hysteria. Laertes tried to take a step towards Hamlet but he fell to his knees.  
“It is here, Hamet,” he rasped, “Hamlet, thou art slain. No medicine in the world could do thee good. The treacherous instrument is in thine hand, unbated and envenomed. I can no more. The King, The King’s to blame,’  
“The point, envenomed too? Then, venom, do thy work,” Hamlet snarled as he cut the King’s arm with the poisoned blade. The court began yelling.  
“Oh, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt,” The King cried. No one ran to his aid.  
“Drink off this poison. Is thy union here? Follow my mother,” he growled into the King’s ear. He was so quiet, or the court was so loud, that Horatio could barely hear.  
A million thoughts raced through his head. Hamlet was going to die. There was no saving him now. Then what happens? Does the world just keep turning? It seems impossible. What life is there without Hamlet? Laertes brought Horatio out of his thoughts.  
“He is justly served,“ the dying man simply. Hamlet knelt next to Laertes. “Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee, nor thine on me.”  
“Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee,” Hamlet whispered. He tried to walk towards Horatio, but he faltered. Horatio rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders to steady him and he slowly sunk to the ground.  
“I am dead, Horatio,” Hamlet whispered, “ You that look pale and tremble at this chance, that are but mutes or audiences to this act, had I but time. Oh, I could tell you- but let it be. Horatio, I am dead; thou livest; report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied.”  
No, Horatio could not just stand by and let his best friend, his lover, die alone. “Never believe it,” he said, “I am more an antique Roman that a Dane. There’s yet some liquor left,”   
Horatio grabbed the goblet. He was so close that he almost felt the poison on his lips. With the last ounce of his strength, Hamlet tried to wrench the cup away from Horatio. He must not die.  
“As thou art a man, give me the cup. Let go. By heaven, I’ll have it!” Hamlet was almost yelling. Horatio wanted to tell him no; that he would gladly follow him into the house of death. For, after Hamlet died, what was there to live for?  
“Oh God, Horatio, what a wounded name. Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me. If thou did ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, to tell my story,” Hamlet was dying, an army was marching on Elsinore and Horatio must not die.  
“Tell Fortinbras,” Hamlet whispered with his dying breath, “More and less, which have solicited. He has my dying voice. The rest is silence.”  
Horatio felt Hamlet stop breathing in his arms. Drums were beating through the castle halls and Horatio held his prince. The world still turning, Horatio thought, How is the world still turning? He pressed a kiss to his prince’s cooling forehead.   
“Now cracks a noble heart,” he whispered. Tears were falling from his eyes. “Goodnight, my sweet Prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” there was a pause and the drumming and marching was louder. “Why does the drum come hither,” Horatio cried.  
Fortinbras entered the throne room to find the entire Danish royal family dead. This was going to be easier than he thought.  
“What is the sight?” he asked the sobbing Horatio.  
“What is it you would see? If aught of woe and wonder, cease your search,” he answered.  
They spoke, Fortinbras and Horatio, of succession and Horatio told his prince’s story, as he promised he would. He could never fail Hamlet. When the finished and all was silent, Fortinbras was the first to speak again.   
“Take up the bodies, such a sight is this becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. Go, bid the soldiers shoot.”  
Horatio said nothing as he saw the soldiers level their guns at his head. He told Hamlet’s story and now everyone will know the truth, forever. There was nothing to worry about and nothing to fear.   
The soldiers hit their mark and in the darkness, Horatio saw grey eyes and open arms and all the word seemed to glow with sunlight.


End file.
